Hundreds of refugees are feared to have drowned in the Mediterranean Sea after their boats capsized heading to Europe, according to Somali officials.
Somalia’s president and prime minister issued a joint statement of condolence to the nation over unconfirmed reports that up 400 refugees from Somalia, Ethiopia and Eritrea may have died.
The Somali ambassador to Egypt told BBC Arabic that the 400 refugees are thought to have drowned when their boat capsized in the Mediterranean on the way from Libya to Italy.
Italian President Sergio Mattarella said Monday that several hundred people appear to have died in a new tragedy in the Mediterranean, according to Reuters.
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Italian and Greek coast guard officials were unable to confirm the reports.
“What is sure is that we are again with a tragedy in the Mediterranean, exactly one year after the tragedy we had … in Libyan waters,” Italian Foreign Minister Paolo Gentiloni told reporters, adding that he was still waiting for more details.
Roughly one year ago, an estimated 800 migrants drowned off the Libyan coast in what the United Nations High Commission for Refugees called the “deadliest” migrant boat disaster recorded in the Mediterranean Sea.
Earlier on Monday, the Italian coastguard said 108 refugees had been rescued and six bodies were recovered from a rubber dinghy on Sunday, according to Reuters. In another incident, 33 refugees were also rescued off the eastern coast of Sicily.
The International Organization for Migration said on Friday that nearly 6,000 migrants and refugees sailed from Libya to Italy last week. An estimated 177,207 migrants and refugees have entered Europe by sea in 2016, arriving in Italy, Greece, Cyprus and Spain, through April 13, the IOM reported.
*With files from the Associated Press
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